There are many lessons to be learnt from a tragedy, and Bangladesh is destined to learn and grow from the recent calamities that have haunted the country. The tragedies have ironically become the biggest motivators for the buyers and retailers globally to only source from compliant factories and for the industry to be extremely alert to any violation. Various industry initiatives are being put together by Government and buyers to achieve safe working conditions in the country making it imperative for factory owners to be compliant with the help of third party testing agencies. The surge in the number of factories seeking assistance from third party agencies has been a boon, and one such agency, Global Sustainable Certification Services Ltd. (GSCSL) has seen a surge of 15 per cent in business post-Savar Tragedy and is further targeting a 20 per cent business growth in the coming financial year due to the eagerness of exporters to turn compliant.
The importance of being compliant cannot be undermined and though firmly established in garment exports, Bangladesh industry is fully aware of the risk involved in ignoring buyer concerns on safety issues. Seeking help from agencies like GSCSL, the industry is fast implementing norms, and in the process may become the country which achieves a compliant status in record time. Yet, according to Md. Abdul Alim, Chairman, GSCSL only 3 factories in Bangladesh are SA8000 certified due to the gap between living wages and minimum wages, which is almost 50 per cent making it difficult for a factory to comply with it. Although the growing awareness towards compliance was evident even before the Rana Plaza building collapse, the accident gave it the much needed attention. “I would not say that the total awareness only happened after the building collapse, but the Government and entrepreneurs start in right earnest only after the accident,” confirms Abdul.
[bleft]Industry experts believe that garment production is leading to environmental degradation since around 33 litres of water is used to make a single T-shirt, putting enormous pressure on the ground water level which is rapidly depleting.[/bleft]
Understandably, the 40-year-old country which has been suffering political uncertainties over its short history has a weak infrastructure, evident through the old factories visible around the country. But, now the Government is trying to change the scenario of the garment industry which provides livelihoods to around four million people. “The Government has bought a land in Gazaria, Munshiganj District in the division of Dhaka to shift all the older factories there, providing the factory owners with land, which they can pay through instalments,” informs Abdul.
Though the initiatives are in full swing, the pace of progress is slow as Bangladesh suffers shortage of qualified inspectors, which are less than 200. Nonetheless, a group of mostly 80 European retailers who signed the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety to carry out coordinated inspections in the factories, have started hiring and training inspectors on their own to keep a check on around 1,000 factories that supply their brands. “We are also providing training on managements systems to our auditors trying to mould them into becoming lead auditors,” states Abdul. So far, the company has conducted around 200-300 social compliance audits and awarded 40-50 ISO 8000 certifications and 8-10 ISO 14000 certifications (for environment).
Apart from being 100 per cent compliant, many exporters are taking a step ahead to make their factories Green, from inception. Although there is an increasing focus on social accountability, but slowly it is shifting to environment as industry experts believe that garment production is leading to environmental degradation since around 33 litres of water is used to make a single T-shirt, putting enormous pressure on the ground water level which is rapidly depleting. Although the phenomenon is catching up fast in Bangladesh, but the cost incurred to have a green factory is much higher, hence “There are only a few takers for this course of sustainable action,” claims Abdul.
The business growth for GSCSL is coupled with challenges such as increasing pressure from buyers resulting in exporters undertaking unethical practices to make their factories 100 per cent compliant. “If I did an audit for a factory and if it collapses tomorrow, it puts the whole blame on me being the auditor. I am not an engineer, so how is it possible for me to check the compliance issues in accordance to the norms and regulations of the buyers within time restriction?” maintains Abdul. Also, the company faced a situation where they were offered bribe by a Chinese investor in order to get his factory certified as compliant. Rather than taking the bribe, Abdul asked him to invest the same amount on social compliance. Today, the factory is 100 per cent compliant and whenever they have problem they always take the help of GSCSL.
Meanwhile, the company is looking at robust growth in business as brands and retailers are demanding for an audit every six months in wake of worker safety concerns. The company is targeting a 20 per cent increase in business through trainings, security audits and also plans to increase its marginal goods inspection business. While the global attention is on compliant factories, slowly and steadily it is moving towards new avenues, exploring options for factories to turn the negative impacts to positive by giving it back to the society. “Hopefully in the future when all the factories will be compliant the focus would shift to Corporate Social Responsibility. Currently we are working on norms and regulations which are mandatory but later, we will be working with the willingness to do something for the society,” concludes Abdul.
